October 7, 2006: National Tour of Solar Homes Day

To kick off the Natural Energy Awareness Month of October, the American Solar Energy Society (www.ases.org) will be sponsoring the National Tour of Solar Homes on October 7, 2006. A solar home tour will happen in most states on or near this date. Depending on the state, the tour may (or may not) have modern homes, but this will be an excellent opportunity to get first-hand information on solar energy: information relevant to the particularities of the state YOU live in.

To find a list of links relevant to the state you live in, click here. The tour in Texas will be in Houston and costs a nominal $10. This looks to be an awesome tour, and as of today, there will be 8 homes with various green features. Here’s a link to the list of homes with pictures and a description of each sustainable home.

This is an awesome opportunity for anyone thinking about retrofitting their house or building a new sustainable house. Why not learn from the experiences of others that have already taken the green plunge? They will be able to talk about solar power, solar heating, cooling, passive cooling, wind power, day lighting, and other various green building technologies. The Texas tour includes access to all 8 homes, a guide book, and a free energy efficient light bulb. I’m thinking of taking the 5-hour drive (from Dallas to Houston) just to see some of these places and learn about the tax incentives specific to my state.

For my Colorado readers (and there’s a lot of you), my friend in the blogosphere, Tom Konrad, Ph.d., has some good info on what’s going on in that state. Just an FYI…